Brews Brothers (Steve Frank and Arnold Meltzer) There are many beer myths floating about, most of which shouldn’t be swallowed. Most of these are more fiction than fact. Mass advertising has perpetuated these misunderstandings on the unsuspecting beer drinker. Most beer drinkers don’t have a good grasp of the 55-60 different styles of beer or how beers are made, and this also perpetuates some of these fictional tales. Below we address some of the more notable beliefs.
Beer is best served ice cold or in a frosted mug. Mass market beer advertising tells you to "have a cold one." Why? Because the cold kills your taste buds and you won’t realize the majority of American lagers have very little flavor. Even craft brewpubs and pubs are forced to serve beer chilled through glycol lines or in frosted mugs because the customers have been brainwashed to expect the beer that way and the pubs have to stay in business. Serving temperatures should range from about 50-60 degrees. If the pub serves craft beer too cold, let it sit and wrap your hands around it to hasten its warming, and always ask for a non-frosted glass. When we have a beer at home, we take out of the fridge about 30-40 minutes before we want to drink. Plan ahead for enjoying full-flavored craft beers. Dark beer is higher in alcohol than light colored beer. Try a Westmalle Trippel, Van Steenberge’s Gulden Draak, or a Weyerbacher Merry Monks. The color of the beer has nothing to do with its alcohol content, but rather with the types of malt that are used in its brewing. These affect the taste and color but not the alcohol level which is determined by the quantity of malt, the types of yeast, and how long the fermentation lasts. The alcohol level is more a function of style than color. The very popular dark Guinness Stout served in America has an alcohol by volume level (ABV) of 4.2%, lower than that of Budweiser. Most Belgian-style tripels, which are pale to deep gold in color, have an ABV of 7-10%. Europe is the best place to find good beer. Europe is an excellent place to find great beers, many of which are shipped to the U.S., but America is better. In many European countries, the local beer drinkers consume only the few styles native to that country, and the brewer’s art is in producing beers that exactly fit the style. In addition to America importing all of the foreign beer styles, our craft brewers make the styles of England, Germany and Belgium very well. We also have the American affinity for creativity and have extended the traditional styles such as the recently Imperialization of many traditional styles. Ales are stronger than lagers. This is often not true. Both styles have a wide range of alcohol levels. For centuries, until the recent advent of special high alcohol brewing, most of the higher alcohol beers were lagers in the bock (6-7.5% ABV) and doublebock (7.5-14% ABV) styles because generally the bottom-fermenting lager yeasts have a higher alcohol tolerance than do the top-fermenting ale yeasts. For many years the highest alcohol beer in the world was Hurlimann Brewery’s Samiclaus doublebock at 14% ABV. At the current time, the world’s highest alcohol, regularly brewed beer is Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA at about 20% ABV. Wine goes better with food than beer does. Many restaurants and specialty stores promote wine for drinking with food but beers have far more flavors to match with food. There are well over 50 beer styles with a broad palate of flavors that pair well with almost any type of food including salads, cheeses, and desserts. Some beers complement foods, for example wheat beers, kölsch or helles may match with fish ideally while an American brown ale will stand up to ribs. In other cases, you can provide a contrast and beer’s range has caramel, roast, coffee, chocolate, bananas, various citrus fruits, herbs, carbonation, smoke, sweet, sour, tart, bitter, and numerous fruit and spice flavors. Beers styles like porter and stout, because of their chocolate and roast flavors, are especially suited for particular desserts. They complement chocolate cakes, ice cream, and fruit tarts. Raspberry lambics also go very well with chocolate desserts. The bitterness in IPAs will cut through the tartness of salad dressings and the fats in cheeses to compliment those foods. Women Don’t Like Beer In the history of brewing, more beer has been brewed by women than by men. Check with the brewing sisters of the German nunneries at Mallersdorf and Ursberg. Until the middle ages when brewing settled into the monasteries of Europe, brewing beer was part of the woman’s household chores. A large part of the membership of our several homebrew clubs in the Washington area and probably elsewhere are women who brew excellently and love their ales and lagers.